If you were looking for evidence that the Pittsburgh
Penguins might have enough to return to the Stanley Cup final this
spring, you got it yesterday.

If you were looking for evidence that the Pittsburgh Penguins might have enough to return to the Stanley Cup final this spring, you got it yesterday.

Understand, it was a hostile environment into which the Penguins wandered yesterday after breaking the hearts of their home fans and failing to clinch the series in Game 5 two days earlier in the doomed building we once affectionately called the Igloo.

The Philadelphia Flyers, despite being down three games to two going into Game 6 yesterday, sensed as most did the series was swinging their way. The arena was rocking with almost every member of the 20,072 in attendance wearing bright Flyer orange and the national anthem, featuring the legendary Kate Smith and local singer Lauren Hart on video – Hart is currently in Ethiopia adopting a child – delivered the appropriate emotion.

"It was not going to be easy," said veteran Pittsburgh winger Bill Guerin. "You had to focus just on the rink, not necessarily the arena. If you can do that, you'll be okay."

Except the Penguins weren't okay, at least not initially. Instead, they were down 2-0 after a Flyer blitzkrieg late in the first and then behind 3-0 by the 4:06 mark of the second. At that point, pretty much everyone was expecting the Penguins to, if not fold their tents exactly, concede that the Flyers had Game 6 and head home for the deciding game.

Instead, Maxime Talbot picked a fight with Flyers tough guy Dan Carcillo, and the Penguin stars went to work. When it was all over, Pittsburgh had a stirring 5-3 triumph built on a shocking collapse by the home team and the brilliant work of the Penguins two mega-stars, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

Malkin has rebounded from last spring's dreadful showing in the Cup final against Detroit to not only win the NHL scoring title but put up nine points in his first two playoff games. Crosby has four goals already, including two yesterday.

But more than just the superior stars, what the Penguins showed was a hardnosed resilience that has to be at least to some degree the product of the long hard road that ended in heartbreak last year against Detroit.

"It's just a lot of trust," said Crosby afterwards. "It's trust from the goal out. I mean, when we're down 3-0, it's up to (goalie Marc-Andre Fleury) to not let it get to 4-0.

"But you've got to trust all the guys, that they're going to step up and do their job. We wanted to play the right way today and we got rewarded for that."

It's mostly the same Pittsburgh team from last year, albeit with differences. The key additions are clearly wingers Chris Kunitz and Guerin, and head coach Dan Byslma. Overall, the Pens seem a little wiser, a little hardier in the face of trouble and simply a team that's building a vast arsenal of important playoff experience.

The best line the Pens had going for them all series against Philly was the third unit of Jordan Staal between Tyler Kennedy and Matt Cooke, which time after time kept the puck deep in the enemy zone and gave Crosby and Malkin time to breathe and prepare for the next offensive attack.

All in all, if you were expecting the Pens to be a one-shot deal, they're proving it's not going to happen that way. Having Crosby and Malkin, and probably Staal and Fleury as well, means this team is always going to have a core that will keep it in the thick of things, or at least it will as long as that group stays whole.

That said, they may end up grappling with Eastern Conference champion Boston in the next round, which would be a terrific struggle.

But while you might have made the B's heavy favourites a week ago, you wouldn't today. These Penguins are tougher than they might at first appear.

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